


Put A Ring On It

by AquaWolfGirl



Series: Aqua's One Shots [3]
Category: Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: F/M, Modern AU, One Shot, seriously this will rot your teeth, sheer fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-12
Updated: 2017-09-12
Packaged: 2018-12-27 04:38:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,975
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12073677
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AquaWolfGirl/pseuds/AquaWolfGirl
Summary: A cute little one shot based on my own parents when they just moved in together.Grocery shopping isn't exactly the most fun, especially when Ben tries to put her sugary cereals back every chance he gets. But between arguing about whether Go-Gurt can actually be considered yogurt, and what to have for dinner, Rey's pretty sure she falls in love with him all over again.





	Put A Ring On It

“We need eggs.”

“I thought I brought home eggs yesterday,” Rey argues, frowning as she goes to read the grocery list they brought. It’s a mess of a piece of paper, torn in a few places and covered with different pen colors. She can see her chicken scratch overlapping with Ben’s fine cursive writing. She catches a glimpse of her green ‘E’ before he’s lifting it high so she can’t read it. “Hey!” 

“You brought home six eggs, and we used four for dinner and dessert. We need more eggs,” Ben explains, holding the list above her head just to be an ass. Rey smirks and jumps up, snatching it from his hand and looking down at the paper, now torn even more from their scuffle. But at least it's still somewhat readable, and she pulls the Sharpie from her pocket and checks off what they've already gotten. 

“We also need yogurt," she says, looking down the list. "And deli meat."

“I’m not getting you any more of those kids drinkable yogurts, they’re disgusting and full of sugar,” Ben mutters as he starts to push their cart around to the dairy section. “I already let you get Captain Crunch. You have to start eating like an adult, one of these days.”

“I picked out broccoli and brussel sprouts,” Rey protests, looking around at the people buying food for Sunday football, the sales of chips and salsa and cheap plastic dip bowls. 

“Which you’re going to cover in butter and parmesan,” Ben retorts, and she can hear the laughter in his voice as she rolls her eyes and goes to grab her yogurt. He doesn’t protest as she puts a pack in the cart, but keeps his mouth shut, and she smiles as she leans up to kiss his cheek in thanks. 

"If you think I'm ever going to start eating Raisin Bran like you, then you don't know me at all," she teases. "You eat like an old man."

He’s not a health freak, no, but he makes sure they eat reasonably well. And she’s not that bad, she doesn’t think. A childhood of cheap, crappy, sugary foods is hard to kick aside. But he’s patient, and she loves him for it as she leans against his side through the refrigerated sections, the cold cutting through her paint-covered t-shirt. 

“What else do we have to do?” she asks, of their new house. 

Ben sighs – a long, sad sigh, no doubt the man pulling up his list in his head. The previous owners didn’t list it as a ‘fixer-upper’ for nothing. “We still have to paint all the cabinets in the kitchen, and that’ll be a hell of a job, taking all the doors and hinges off.”

“And we have to grout the tile in the bathroom,” Rey offers. 

“Fuck, I forgot about that. Yeah, I’ll do that when we get back home,” Ben groans. 

Despite his whining and groaning, Rey grins as she leans against her boyfriend for warmth as they pass near the freezers. _Home._ They have a home, together. It’s a run down sort of place, the structure pretty much the only thing intact. It was a hell of a job to tear out all the water-stained drywall and insulation, but now they’re in the home stretch, painting and tiling and just having finished the hardwood a week before. There’s still decorating to be done and furniture to be bought since they came with nothing, but their air mattress is holding up well and she’s been enjoying picnics on the newly installed hardwood in front of the big window looking out to the massive backyard. 

A backyard with a perfect tree for a treehouse, or a swing. For kids. 

It’s a long ways down the road, she knows, but she can dream.

“Do we need more cheese for quesadillas?” 

“Huh?” Rey asks, startled out of her daydreaming. “Oh, check the list.”

“It’s not on the list, but do you remember if we need more?” 

“If it’s not on the list, then we don’t need more of it. That’s the purpose of a grocery list, Ben,” Rey teases, poking her boyfriend in the arm. He’s covered in pale blue paint, too, splotches of it decorating his worn white t-shirt that’s now been dubbed his ‘painting shirt’. Rey can see the green that they’d painted the guest room in some spots, too. She’s so distracted looking at the constellations of colors covering his broad shoulders that she barely realizes he’s leaning over to grab another block of colby jack cheese. 

“I said we don’t need it,” Rey insists as she walks up to the cart. 

“Well, if we run out, now we don’t have to get more,” Ben argues as he puts the block in the cart. Rey frowns, about to say something about being wasteful when there’s a kiss to her cheek, and a big hand on her waist, and she’s being pulled into a half-hug. She closes her eyes, breathing in the chemical smell of paint and the musk of sweat and something entirely Ben. 

“All right, fine,” she says, pushing the cart as Ben grabs a dozen eggs from the fridge. She still doesn't like the idea of buying food they don't need, her adolescence teaching her to be stingy with money and food, but Ben's guiding her out of her ways. He's teaching her to buy things before she's desperate for them. It makes sense. She lost track of the times in college she went hungry because she shuffled her feet on buying food because of monetary struggles. And then, by the time she begrudgingly decided she did need to eat, the campus store was closed by the time she felt faint from hunger.

Opening the pantry to a whole selection of snacks was a brand new luxury when they first moved into Ben's parent's house while they were gutting theirs, and she doesn't think Ben will ever let her forget how long she stood there in awe of the idea of choice.

It takes a little longer than it probably should have to get everything, because despite having a list, Ben decides to splurge on steaks and she gets stuck in the bakery. Both emerge victorious, though Rey gripes over his steaks costing a good bit more than her on-sale Fourth of July frosted cookies. 

“I don’t need steak, I like chicken just fine,” she insists as they finally head towards the check out. She thanks the stars that there’s a lane open with only one little old lady in front, and though she’s slow at putting her items on the belt, she doesn’t have many.

“I’m sick of chicken. Here, let me in,” Ben says, slipping between the gum display and the cart. “Can I help you, ma’am?” 

Rey smiles, watching as Ben helps the elderly woman lift her heavy juice cartons onto the belt, and she grabs the divider before starting to unload their own food. In her head, she tries to tell herself that there’s no reason to feel anxious anymore. Ben’s not loaded, but he’s better off than she’s ever been. And she has a steady job now, not to mention his parents said if they need help with anything, they’re there. 

She won’t have to worry about her debit card getting declined for a single pack of ramen, anymore. 

“I’ll be right back, here’s the card.”

“Hm, okay,” Rey hums, taking the debit card from him and tucking in her back pocket as she continues to unload their run. She frowns at the bottle of wine Ben must have picked up without her looking, since their usual go-to is beer, but she shrugs and puts it on the belt. She looks towards the front, seeing Ben helping push the elderly woman’s cart, and she grins, heart warming as she greets the cashier. 

It doesn’t take long to bag all of their things, the reusable bags in the bottom of the cart bigger than the plastic ones. She’s only just finished checking out when Ben comes back with a slight smile on his face. 

“I’ve got it, let’s go, where’d we park?” Rey asks, pushing the cart forward and trying not to run over his foot. 

“Aren’t you going to ask me where I went?” he questions. 

“You went to help that old lady with her cart. I knew there was a sweet side in you, even when you were an asshole who called himself ‘Kylo’,” Rey teases, smirking as she leans over to hip-check him. 

Ben groans, reaching up to run a hand through his hair. “Don’t remind me.” 

Rey laughs as she pushes the cart through the door, observing the change counter that she really should make use of one day and the little quarter vending machines that haven’t changed since she was younger. The contents inside them, maybe, but not their presence. She wonders if any kids get crap from them anymore. 

Ben loads the car and tells her to get in, the clouds looking like they’re about to let it pour any moment. She doesn’t protest, the car warmer than the outside but less humid. Her t-shirt already feels like it’s sticking to her skin as she pulls her phone out and texts Finn, confirming that they’re fine and got the second coat of the master bedroom finished. She hears the sound of the driver’s side opening and closing, and then, “Rey.” 

“Hm?” she asks, finishing up her message. 

“Look.” 

Her gaze shifts from her phone to Ben’s hand, and she stares at the ring in his palm. It’s one of the ones from the vending machines, the kind that are 50 cents or maybe even 25. A fake gold band with a green plastic stone, the cheap glue having eaten away at the back of it, it’s surprisingly pretty for a cheap piece of junk. Still, she’s breathless as she looks up at him. “Are … are you proposing?” 

“Not yet,” Ben admits. “But it’s a promise that I will. I’m going to ask you to marry me. With a real ring, when the time comes.” 

Her heart skips in her chest, and she looks down at his hand again, her smile bright as she reaches for the ring. “Who says this isn’t a real ring?” 

“Rey, you deserve more than a 50 cent piece of shit ring for your engagement ring.” 

“Still.” Still, her heart feels too full for her chest as she tries to put it on. Obviously made for a child, it only slips on the second part of her finger. She tries her pinky finger, but it’s still a little too small. “Damn it.” 

“It’ll probably turn your finger some shade of green anyway,” Ben teases before she turns and leans over the center console to kiss him. His hair’s a bit sticky with sweat from painting all day as she slides her hand into the dark locks, but she doesn’t give a damn. She moans against his mouth, feeling the plastic cutting into her circulation before he goes to move his hand to her cheek and ends up bumping the horn with his elbow. 

_Honk!_

They jump apart, her heartbeat wild before she laughs, looking at his elbow near the wheel. “C’mon, let’s get home before the storm hits.” 

“Works for me,” Ben mutters, his pale cheeks pink as he starts the car just as raindrops start to fall on the windshield. 

There’s a line of green around her pinky as she takes the ring off, but she grins as she holds it in her hand, thumb brushing over the green plastic rhinestone. 

_I’m going to ask you to marry me._

She lifts the ring to her lips, kissing the stone. 

“Probably wouldn’t do that – might have lead in it or something like that.”

“Oh, shut up.”

**Author's Note:**

> About two years ago, my mom told me about how after her and my dad moved in together, when they went grocery shopping, he'd get her one of the 50 cent rings from the machines by the door. It wasn't so much a proposal as a promise that he wanted to propose one day, but he didn't have the money for a ring, and he thought it was too soon to propose for real anyways. But he knew the moment he saw her that he wanted to marry her, and he told her so every time they went grocery shopping, and gave her a ring each time he had spare change.  
> I thought the story was too cute to be real and sounded like a Tumblr OTP filler prompt.  
> We had to water seal everything for Irma last week, and while going through a memory box, guess what I found?  
> A box full of plastic and cheap metal rings.  
> And so guess what I had to write?  
> Hope you all enjoyed this little piece - it's not my best work, but I absolutely had to write something about it.


End file.
